While a crippling winter storm raged along the eastern seaboard, the weather conditions were relatively clear albeit cold for the finals of the Snowshoe and Blizzard Series at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack on Friday night (Jan. 22).
The $47,200 Snowshoe Series Final turned into a showdown between Shades Of Bay and Rafa as both four-year-old pacers were in the running for a series sweep. In the end, Shades Of Bay held off his rival, who was previously undefeated, and extended his own win streak to five.
Phil Hudon drove the winning son of Art Major for trainer Sean Mehlenbacher and owner Timothy Kim of Toronto.
Leaving from post nine, even-money favourite Shades Of Bay took a brief tuck in fourth through a :26.2 first quarter before overtaking the front-striding Rafa (Sylvain Filion) down the backstretch. Shades Of Bay led the field past the half-mile mark in :55.4 and three-quarters in 1:24.3 with Rafa still looming from pocket into the stretch before launching a late attack. Rafa tried to reel in Shades Of Bay, but the bettors' choice dug in to prevail by one and a quarter-length in 1:52.2. Shippen Out (James MacDonald) rounded out the top three finishers.
Shades Of Bay earned his second consecutive winter series title as he had also won the $34,600 Valedictory Final on Boxing Day 2015. He now has seven career wins from 17 starts and earnings totalling $92,704.
Shades Of Bay returned $3.80 to his backers at the betting windows.
Double Olives, second-to-last through the first half-mile, stole the show in the $45,200 final of the Blizzard Series for fillies and mares as she stormed home late from the outer flow to post a 10-1 upset.
Mike Saftic engineered the winning trip aboard the four-year-old daughter of Blissfull Hall for trainer Dave Matson and owners John Taylor of Toronto and Jeffery Ruch of Innisfil, Ont.
Twin B Sweetheart (Jonathan Drury) fired off the gate from the outermost post nine, but 2-1 favourite Cracklin Rosie (Phil Hudon) and Amazing Control (Jody Jamieson) also showed early gate speed to her inside. Cracklin Rosie emerged between the leaving mares as they raced three-wide to the first turn and cleared to command past the :26.3 first quarter mark. However, Twin B Sweetheart remained parked out and drove on to take over down the backstretch, reaching the half-mile mark in :55.2.
With the early speedsters settling in line, Dontbruisecarrie (Doug McNair) then launched first over from mid-pack with Naughty Lady B (Sylvain Filion) hot on her heels as she took over before the 1:24 third quarter mark. Meanwhile, Bad As Leader (Trevor Henry), who was perfect in the first two legs of the series, tracked cover and Double Olives also followed in the outer flow.
Naughty Lady B went by Dontbruisecarrie down the stretch, but Double Olives was full of late pace and rallied by to score a career-best victory in 1:53 flat, with her final quarter clocked in :27.4. Naughty Lady B finished second while Bad As Leader was third and Cracklin Rosie was fourth.
A popular winner in the second leg of the series last week, Double Olives paid $23.80 for a $2 Win ticket this time out. She has finished no worse than second in three series/seasonal starts.
The win was Double Olives' seventh in 19 races lifetime and boosted her bankroll to $72,810.
The pair of series was three and four-year-old pacers that were non-winners of two races or $30,000 lifetime as of Oct. 31, 2015.
In regular racing action, Betit To Getit ($8.70) continued her perfect 2016 campaign as she notched her third straight victory for the Rick Zeron stables in winning this week's $30,000 Fillies & Mares Preferred Pace.
Parked from the outside post six as Ms Mac N Cheese (Sylvain Filion) gunned out for the lead from post four and insider Waasmula (Trevor Henry) closed the pocket, Betit To Getit forged on through a 26-second opener and eventually cleared to command into the backstretch. From there, she led the field of talented mares through middle splits of :55.1 and 1:24.1 and held clear of Ms Mac N Cheese down the stretch as that rival chased her home in second-place and Waasmula followed in third. Betit To Getit lowered her season's mark to 1:51.4.
Zeron trains and drives the six-year-old No Pan Intended mare for owner Billholland Racing of Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont. Betit To Getit is now a 31-time career winner with $326,734 in the bank.
To view Friday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Racetrack.